Naia, the cat that disappeared two months ago at the Tenerife North Airport – Ciudad de La Laguna, has finally appeared. She was last seen when she was under the care of Iberia Express workers who were supposed to put her on a plane bound for Madrid, where her owners, Rocío and Álvaro Bienert, were. The siblings had handed over the cat along with another kitten, Gofio, each in their own carrier, but Naia disappeared while the siblings were already inside the plane.
Two months later, they have been informed that the cat has been found, and now the Bienert siblings want her to travel to Madrid in two weeks, but Iberia airline has not contacted them yet. The story of how Naia got lost is a bit strange, as Rocío and Álvaro told the newspaper El Día.
“The cat has escaped”
However, both proposals were rejected by the airline staff. The flight captain approached Rocío and Álvaro to inform them that they couldn’t share the carrier because the flight “lasted more than two hours” and this is prohibited according to protocol. But the bad news didn’t end there, shortly after they were told that “the cat has opened the carrier and escaped to the tarmac”.
The tarmac is the area where transit luggage is stored after passing the check-in area. The issue is that this area has access to the runway, which means the cat could have gone out there. “They told us they saw her near the control tower,” Rocío Bienert said at the time.
Wearing a helmet and vest, Rocío searched several areas of the airport calling for the cat, “who meows when she hears my brother or me”, but was unsuccessful. Ultimately, both siblings traveled to Madrid with only one of the cats.
The airline stated that they are “doing everything possible to recover” the cat. According to Iberia Express spokespersons, “Naia’s disappearance was detected when she was about to be transferred to the plane, so before take-off, one of the customers was asked to remain in Tenerife to assist in the search efforts.”
For the search, the collaboration of the SOS FELINA protectorate, specializing in cats, was also requested, and all airport workers were alerted to be on the lookout in case she appeared. In fact, a few days after her disappearance, another cat was found, but it wasn’t Naia.
Iberia Express assured that they would search for the cat “for as long as necessary,” and finally, Naia has been found.
